2023 Sexual Assault at Denfeld High School leads to Charges

DULUTH, Minn. – In 2023, a 15-year-old Denfeld High School student was sexually assaulted during school hours by another 18-year-old student, charges allege.

A man has been charged for a 2023 sexual assault at Duluth Denfeld High School. Cameron Joseph Williams, 20, was an 18-year-old student at Denfeld when court documents allege he assaulted a then 15-year-old female student.

According to a criminal complaint,  the incident occurred “between second and third hour, which would have been right before lunch” on March 16, 2023. The victim said she “came across (Williams) in the hallway” and the two began walking together.

When they got near a stairwell, the victim said Williams grabbed her “by the hips and pushed her against a wall,” and touched her inappropriately. When the victim told Williams to stop, the two kept walking until reaching an elevator.

Williams asked the victim to go inside the elevator with him. While inside the elevator, the victim claimed that Williams continued touching her inappropriately for about five minutes despite her physical attempts to stop the assault.

When the two exited the elevator, they each went to their respective bathrooms. The victim said she then left the bathroom and told her friend what happened.

Surveillance footage at the school captured part of the incident, according to the criminal complaint. Footage shows the two start walking together at around 11:50 a.m., and at 11:58 a.m. “they are seen in a stairwell together, and (Williams) can be seen grabbing her waist area before they go out of sight.”

At 12:01 p.m., footage showed them walking into an elevator, only to exit at 12:05 p.m. and go into their respective bathrooms. The victim is reportedly seen in the footage at 12:14 p.m. “in the cafeteria area talking to her friend and getting a hug.”

FOX 21 attempted to reach out to school officials, but both representatives we were referred to were out of their office.

Williams is charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct and could face up to 15 years in prison.

View our most recent coverage, including a statement from Duluth Public School, here.